The brains of the infant, toddler and preschooler are genetically programmed to develop most effectively when exposed to an environment which has remained essentially unchanged over the past tens of thousands of years. During this period of our evolution, early childhood was characterized by specific types of social interaction, including language exposure, social experiences leading to an understanding of self-awareness and one's role in society, as well as virtually limitless opportunities for physical play, imaginative play and creativity.
We now live in a society where these types of experiences, so critical for appropriate brain development, have been usurped by television and other electronic media. In the United States, the average time television is on in the home each day approaches seven hours. We live in a society where the number of downloads or DVDs rented each day is six million, while only three million books are checked out of libraries. The average U.S. household has 2.24 televisions, with 66 percent of U.S. homes having three or more televisions. The typical American child spends 1680 minutes watching television each week, while more than 70 percent of day care centers also have the television playing during a typical day. The average American youth spends 900 hours in school each year, but watches 1500 hours of television.
By the time the typical American child finishes elementary school, he will have witnessed 8000 murders on television, while 79 percent of Americans feel that TV violence helps precipitate real-life violent behavior. The average American child witnesses 20,000 30-second television commercials each year. Incredibly, 59 percent of Americans can name all three of The Three Stooges, while only 17 percent can name at least three Supreme Court justices.
The main areas of concern with reference to television and children are:
1. Time spent watching TV displaces other types of creative and imaginative activities.
2. Television watching discourages reading.
3. Television watching discourages exercise.
4. Television advertising increases demand for material possessions.
5. Exposure to violence on television can increase aggressive behavior in some children.
First and foremost, the most important issue with reference to children watching television is that the passive act of watching television displaces other activities in which the child could have been participating. When a child is watching television, he or she is not involved in play, not socializing with other individuals and most importantly, not receiving feedback as to the actions or consequences of his or her behavior. Television is a one-way street. According to Nielsen statistics, children between the ages of 2-5 years typically spend approximately 21.8 hours each week watching television. That works out to approximately three hours each day, or 25 percent of their time awake.
These are preschoolers, and this is the period of time when it is desperately important for these children to achieve a significant milestones in mental development, physical development and perhaps most importantly, social development -- that is, their ability to define and refine what constitutes socially appropriate behavior. This is achieved through interaction with others, including parents and caregivers, as well as other children, during play.
From the earliest moments of life, children begin to learn the fundamentals of language. The most powerful influence for effective language development are the verbal interactions with caregivers. Author Marie Winn, in her book "The Plug-In Drug," summarized the influence of television on language development by stating, "the major effects are indirect, resulting from the varied verbal experiences the child will not have had as a result of his or her time-consuming involvement with television -- the hundreds or thousands of words not spoken and responded to by another human being, the question is not asked and answered, the conversations not had."
The negative aspect of television on the first two years of brain development, in terms of displacing other activities that the child would have otherwise engaged in, are of such great concern that the American Academy of Pediatrics recently indicated that children two years and younger should not watch any television whatsoever. But despite this edict from the American Academy of Pediatrics, most parents seem to be deluded into lobbying for and seeking out television programs with appropriate content often as a matter of convenience, since television clearly serves as a babysitter of sorts for parents feeling time-constrained. But while content is clearly an important issue, the amount of time a child spends watching television is equally important, for reasons described above. The fundamental here is that when children watch television they are not in other fundamentally important activities for cognitive and social development.
1. Children need to be exploring their physical world. They need to be learning the fundamental laws of physics by manipulating objects.
2. Play becoming fantasy play is critically important for brain development. Specifically, this type of play paves the way for understanding symbolism, which is the cornerstone of reading and, indeed, mathematical skills as well.
3. Television limits a child's motivation to explore and to engage himself in creative activities. Almost without regard to television content, what is being fed into a child's brain when watching television requires very little thought and does not allow any room for questioning and the development of alternative understandings or explanations.
4. Language development also suffers in children watching television. To learn the appropriate usage of language, the child must experience appropriate responses from those around him during his attempts to use language. Children learn language by modifying their understanding based upon the responses they receive and even the corrections offered. Television does not provide this important feedback.
5. The important development of social skills, understanding the consequences of one's actions, learning to vary ones behavior in response to particular social experiences, are limited in the child who spends time watching television. There is no feedback from the television with respect to a child's behavior leading to compromise of the so-called "emotional quotient" (EQ).
6. Fantasy and creativity are critically important for appropriate brain development. The ability of a child to fantasize, to create alternative scenarios and to explore "other realities" ultimately creates a brain that can think outside the box, paving the way for the ability to achieve novel solutions to problems and creative ways of responding to academic challenges later in life. These are experiences a child has every day during creative and imaginative play. As I explained in Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten, creative and imaginative play ultimately creates a comfort zone in which a child is able to function, learning from his trials and errors and becoming more comfortable with the option of failure. None of this activity takes place if a child is engrossed in television where fantasies are spoon-fed and provide no opportunity for alternative explanations. Further, preschoolers typically have difficulty in differentiating between fantasy and reality. Their understanding of what constitutes the real world can be strongly influenced by what they observe on television.
Follow David Perlmutter, M.D. on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DavidPerlmutter
Dr. Jim Taylor: Parenting: The Lost Art of Play
Brain Development - The University of Maine - Cooperative ...
Another example of big brother nanny state invading the home.
spending huge amounts of their time playing with, or
entertaining their children. Instead kids would spend
enormous amounts of time playing either on their own
or with other children. This is no longer the case.
More and more science is coming to the conclusion that
creative play is essential for the cognitive and social
development of children. With kids watching over 4 hours
per day (on average), there is no doubt that TV is
drastically cutting into play time.
And the social and cognitive effects:
"Results tentatively suggest that TV restriction enhanced
Performance IQ, reading time, and reflective Matching
Familiar Figures Test scores."
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W52-48590WJ-6&_user=10&_coverDate=03%2F31%2F1980&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1571375619&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=a5302a05c36aee11691dfffaf875dd84&searchtype=a
"Effects of reducing children's television and video game
use on aggressive behavior: a randomized controlled trial."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11177057?dopt=Abstract
Also, how does spending hours in front of the TV effect
a child's developing frontal cortex?
"Subsequent work by Malach and colleagues has found that,
when we're engaged in intense "sensorimoÂtor processingÂ"
... we actually inhibit these prefrontal areas. The scientists
argue that such "inactivation" allows us to lose ourself
in the movie"
http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2010/01/avatar.php
-----
He's now 20 and he is one the most industrious people I know. He would much rather be working than be sitting around doing nothing. He'll watch TV when he gets a chance but it doesn't control his life. It was worth investing a little of my time when he was young.
SO?! Does that mean those 79% are correct?
But, hey, whatever sells books, right?
My kids would rather play outside and explore than to spend all day watching TV. They enjoy playing and goofing off- just being kids. Sooner or later they’ll ask me if they can watch TV, sometimes I say yes, sometimes no, and other times I need a break, so yes….but only for 15 minutes!
http://www.pbs.org/parents/childrenandmedia/article-faq.html#americanacademy
You can turn on a CD for your kid to dance, music isn't the problem.
YOu would be amazed at the power the people will regain if they all threw out their TVs.
Ponder it!
Her father and I are medical professionals, and we're well aware the the American Pediatric Assoc. recommends no TV before the age of 2. So far so good. We're talking to her, singing to her, reading to her, holding her, caring for her, and exposing her to music. But no television. I've been firmly convinced for more than 15 years that it wires the pediatric brain in a way that predisposes it to ADD from the fast-moving images and scene changes, at the same time slowing verbal, visual and creative development. When I go back to work, if I can bear to, the nanny and baby nurse have strict instructions about no TV, too.
The more I think about it, the more I suspect that no TV before 3 1/2 would be even better. I don't have a problem with very short exposure after that for brief periods. Things like "Dora" and "Sesame Street" and other PBS shows for up to 15 minutes. When this baby goes to her pre-K, kindergarten and primary school, they'll espouse a program of next-to no digital- or TV interaction. They'll have some basic computer use/learning games in school, but it won't be much. Reading will be what we emphasize.
I can't wait to see how this affects her developing brain.
It has been a life-changer for us, truly, having a little one. We're getting past the most exhausting time, I think, but it's quite a big job.
We watch very little TV. I have to have it for news, live coverage of big events, and for PBS shows like "Nova" and "Frontline." Other than that, we make it a practice to talk to each other or read. I think TV can really detract from marriages, too.
All the best with the soon-to-be labor and delivery! Please let me know how things go!
I consider myself lucky to have grown up in the '50s in the UK and didn't see a TV until the age of 8. I work in the school system and it's unbelievable the number of pre-k and k kids who can not focus in a classroom. You wonder why.
But the one thing missing is that TV limits the chances for kids to engage and learn from play using their large muscles (like running and jumping and climbing and crawling). Young kids learn through all their senses and need sensorimotor experiences to grow their knowledge of the world.
I've talked with many parents who have asked me if videogames are developing skills too (I'm an OT). My usual response is that they will develope very co-ordinated thumbs, but take them to the playground for real learning.